Ahwatukee Foothills PONY Baseball Association: Fall 2013 Archives

Wednesday, December 18Fall 2013 Season Parent Survey

Families:

The Fall 2013 season has come to an end and the division champions have been crowned. We have truly enjoyed being a part of your young athlete's development this Fall and look forward to the future. In our efforts to continually improve, we ask for your honest feedback in helping us in this mission by taking 5-10 minutes and answer eight questions. All responses are anonymous and will be kept within strict confidence of the AFPBA Board.

As a reminder, registration for Spring season starting in February is open.

You can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

Thank you for your time,

Ron Ensley
AFPBA President

***The survey is now closed***

Wednesday, December 18End of Year Donations

The year is nearly at an end. If you are still looking to make a charitable contribution to a 501c3 organization, please consider Ahwatukee Foothills PONY Baseball Association (AFPBA). 100% of your donation goes to operate the League for your players and provide the best experience possible. All donations are tax deductible and a receipt will be provided.

#1 Pinto Diamondbacks over the #2 Pinto Dodgers 9-8 on a clear and chilly morning at the Akimel Bronco field.

The Dodgers receiving their 2nd loss in the tournament are eliminated making Championship Game #2 not necessary.

Congrats Diamondbacks on winning the tournament!

Congrats Dodgers on a hard fought 2nd place!

Thursday, December 5Fundraiser Order Pickup Times

Jeremiah Slife received the cups today and will be sorting all the orders tomorrow and handing them out on Saturday 12/7 during the tournaments being played at Akimel.

Pickup times for orders this weekend are:

9:30 - 10:30 AM @ Akimel Bronco Field by the concession stand

1:45 - 3:00PM @ Akimel Bronco field by the concession stand

A message from Jeremiah:

"Please feel free to spread the word. Hope to see everyone who participated to say thank you, as I'm very grateful to everyone who participated in raising money for our league." - Thanks, Jeremiah Slife, Fall Fundraiser Director

If you are unable to pick up your order at either of these times, please contact Jeremiah at the email link above to arrange an alternate time or method.

Saturday, November 30Fundraiser Orders Update

The fundraiser cups are running a little behind and should be here by 12/9/13. Due to holiday shipping delays and orders turned in late we are running 3 weeks behind. Jeremiah Slife will be contacting you directly to hand off the orders.

Friday, November 29Festival of Lights Kick-off Party
Reminder: Ahwatukee Foothills PONY Baseball will be sponsoring the Gladiator Arena at this year's The Festival of Lights Kick-off Party on Saturday, November 30th. Look for our junior volunteers wearing their team jerseys. Stop by and say 'Hi'!

Thursday, November 28*** Championship Tournaments Resume ***

Baseball in December? Only in Arizona!

The revised schedule of remaining games in the Pinto, Mustang and Bronco Division Championship Tournaments has been published. Please review the upcoming events below, the league calendar on this site or your team calendar on the team sub-site for you next game.

Hope everyone enjoy the Thanksgiving Holiday with family, friends and food and the Gray Thursday, and Black Friday events for new bats, helmets, shoes and gloves!

Saturday, November 23*** Championship Tournaments Update ***

With the rain continuing to fall off and on much later into the weekend than forecast, all remaining games in the Pinto, Mustang and Bronco Division Championship Tournaments have been *postponed* until the week of December 2nd.

A revised tournament schedule of the remaining games will be published soon. Please monitor your email, our PONY website (www.ponybaseballaz.com) and our Facebook or Twitter page for schedule announcements and updates.

Everyone enjoy the Thanksgiving Holiday, Brown Thursday, and Black Friday while the rain moves on and the fields dry out.

Ahwatukee Foothills PONY Baseball will be sponsoring the Gladiator Arena at this year's The Festival of Lights Kick-off Party(www.folaz.org) on Saturday, November 30th. We will have information on our Baseball League and the upcoming Spring 2014 Season while we assist another Ahwatukee Foothills organization and increase awareness of ours. Point us out to your friends and neighbors with baseball aged children and stop on by and say 'Hi'!

Friday, November 22*** Saturday 11/23 Shetland Games Cancelled ***

Saturday's last scheduled games of the Shetland season have been *cancelled* due to the current weather.

Everyone do your best to enjoy a chilly and soggy additional day to the off-season.

Friday, November 22*** Saturday 11/23 Games Postponed ***

Saturday's scheduled Pinto, Mustang and Bronco games have been postponed due to the current weather. We will continue to monitor the weather and field conditions and advise the new schedule as soon as we are able.

Based on the current weather forecasts, we believe we will be able to continue tournament play Sunday as long as the field conditions recover.

Friday, November 22*** Friday 11/22 Games Postponed ***
Tonight's scheduled Pinto and Mustang games have been postponed due to the current weather. We will continue to monitor the weather and field conditions and advise the new schedule as soon as we are able.

Thursday, November 21Weather Watch and Rules Update

*** Weather Watch ***

With the wet weather approaching it is expected that Playoff games will be rained out Friday and Saturday. Please ensure your coach has the best number/email address to deliver any change of plans for the next few days. Also, please check the schedules on this website to ensure you have the latest information.

In general the plan is:

1) If we do not get rained out, the original tournament schedule will be followed.

2) If only Friday is rained out - a revised schedule is being worked on and will be distributed shortly.

3) If Friday and Saturday are both rained out - games will be on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday while still playing a double elimination format. Check this website for times and locations.

4) If Friday, Saturday and Sunday are rained out - games will be on Monday and Tuesday and we will have only a single championship game. Check this website for times and locations.

+++ Rules Update +++

Since we will likely be crunching a lot of baseball into an even shorter period of time, note for the Mustang and Bronco divisions that tournament pitching rules apply. Check with your coach to see how this rule applies in your division.

Good luck to all the teams playing this weekend!

Thursday, November 21Weather Watch for Shetland Division

For all Shetland Coaches and Families, if Saturday games are rained out they will not be rescheduled and the Shetland season will be over as scheduled.

Enjoy the off-season and we hope to see you back for more baseball on Opening Day of the Spring 2014 season.

Don't forget Registration for the Spring 2014 season opens on Saturday!

Wednesday, November 20Ahwatukee Foothills PONY Baseball now on Twitter!

Ahwatukee Foothills PONY Baseball is now on Twitter. Follow the headline link above or search for us as Ahwatukee Foothills PONY Baseball or @ponybaseballaz. League news, event information and game scores will be posted as frequent as possible. Follow us!

We've had a Facebook page for a couple of years now and while we went quiet this fall, we have revived our page and plan on posting regularly our League news, event information and game results as frequently as possible.

The Ahwatukee Foothills PONY Baseball Association wrapped up another excellent season in our Champions Division on Friday November 15th, 2013.

All these special needs athletes demonstrate time and again its Attitude, Effort, Teamwork and Camaraderie. And it’s just a Game, but it’s a GREAT game ANYONE can enjoy.

If you didn’t get the chance to come out and watch some Champions Division games, make sure to do so in our Spring 2014 Season. Very enjoyable and worth the effort.

Congratulations again Champions Division Athletes. We are looking forward to seeing you again next season.

Friday, November 15Bronco Tournament Seeds

The Bronco Division tournament seeds are:

A's (8-1-1)

Angels (7-2-1)

Mariners (3-8-0)

Diamondbacks (2-9-0)

Please see the Bronco Fall 2013 Playoff schedule for game times and locations. Team updates for each round will occur as scores are posted.

Friday, November 15Mustang Tournament Seeds

The Mustang Division tournament seeds are:

A's (9-1-0)

Diamondbacks (8-1-0)

Rangers (6-5-0)

Rockies (3-8-0)

Angels (3-8-0)

Mariners (2-8-0)

Please see the Mustang Fall 2013 Playoff schedule for game times and locations. Team updates for each round will occur as scores are posted.

Friday, November 15Pinto Tournament Seeds

The Pinto Division tournament seeds are:

Diamondbacks (9-3-0)

Dodgers (8-3-1)

Rockies (6-5-1)

Padres (5-7-0)

Giants (4-8-0)

Rangers (3-9-0)

Please see the Pinto Fall 2013 Playoff schedule for game times and locations. Team updates for each round will occur as scores are posted.

Thursday, November 14Fall 2013 Tournament Brackets

The game schedules are posted in the Division schedules pages but the team seedings still are awaiting the final few game results to determine the official seeds. Emails and a posting with the seeds will come out soon!

Pinto Division

• The Tournament starts on 11/16 with 6 teams

• Double elimination tournament of up to 11 games

• Games are on Saturday 11/16, Monday 11/18, Wednesday 11/20 and Friday 11/22

• The 1st Championship Game is on Saturday 11/23

• The 2nd Championship Game is on Monday 11/25 if needed

Mustang Division

• The Tournament starts on 11/16 with 6 teams

• Double elimination tournament of up to 11 games.

• Games are on Saturday 11/16, Monday 11/18, Wednesday 11/20 and Friday 11/22

• The 1st Championship Game is on Saturday 11/23

• The 2nd Championship Game is on Monday 11/25 if needed

Bronco Division

• The Tournament starts on 11/16 with 4 teams

• Double elimination tournament of up to 7 games.

• Games are on Saturday 11/16 and Wednesday 11/20

• The 1st Championship Game is on Saturday 11/23

• The 2nd Championship Game is on Monday 11/25 if needed

Wednesday, November 6

Hot off the press from KSD!

Akimel softball tryouts are going on this week and then their season runs through the end of the semester. This affects us because their practices run until 5:30+/- and then 15 minutes of clean up. In short, they have made it clear that no one can be on the fields until they are cleared and off or 6:00 pm, whichever is later.

***The Bronco Mariners vs A's games tonight 11/6 has moved from 5:30 to 6:15 on the Bronco field and the Bronco Diamondbacks vs Angels game at 7:30 has moved from the Bronco to Mustang field.

Also, moving forward a few minor revisions to clarify that also impact each of you...

Since the Bronco D'bax and Mariners are not going to Casa Grande on 11/9, you will play each other at 12:30 on the Akimel Bronco field.

The 11/9 Mustang Casa Grande 4 vs. Mariners game currently scheduled on the Bronco field at 12:30 will move to the Mustang field.

Mustang Mariners v A's game scheduled for 5:30 on 11-13-13 at the Mustang field will delay until a 6:30 start.

Mustang Diamondbacks v Angels game scheduled for 5:30 on 11-13-13 at the Bronco field will delay until a 6:00 start. This will require a VERY quick field prep from the moment the softball teams vacate the area to having field ready for play.

Mustang Rockies v Rangers game scheduled for 7:30 on 11-13-13 at the Bronco field will delay until an 8 pm start, or immediately upon the conclusion of the 6:00 pm game.

PLEASE MAKE SURE COACHES, PARENTS AND PLAYERS ARE NOT TRYING TO ACCESS THE FIELDS WHILE THE SCHOOL TEAMS ARE THERE!!! SCHOOL TEAMS TAKE TOP PRECEDENCE OVER OUR TEAMS.

Thank you,

Ron Ensley

Tuesday, November 5***Shetland: New Tuesday Game Times***

Shetland Coaches and Parents:

Starting tomorrow, 11/5 the Estrella fields
will be used by the Akimel softball team until 5:45 on Tuesdays. To eliminate this conflict we are pushing all remaining Tuesday Shetland games at
Estrella fields to 6:00pm. Games will still be over by 7:15 and
families/players can now eat beforehand. This will affect games on 11/5, 11/12 and 11/19.

Akimel practices will be over at 5:30 and cleaned up by 5:45. We cannot go on the fields AT ALL while they are
practicing. Our teams can warm up on the soccer fields (if AYSO is not
using them) or at the playground.

Sorry for the late
notice, but I haven't officially been notified of this and would rather be safe
than sorry.

Thanks,

Ron Ensley

Wednesday, October 23Fall 2013 Fundraiser

Dear Parents,

The
Ahwatukee Foothills PONY Baseball Association is excited to announce we have
teamed up with Brax Fundraising to help raise
funds for new equipment for our children, including catching equipment,
pitching machines and mounds.

The fundraiser runs until November 1, 2013, and we encourage your
family to sell at least 10-16 packs of cups. We have to pay a 2% city tax. Total cost of a pack (including tax) is
$18.36.And for the NFL special combo
pack the total is $30.60.

Below,
we have highlighted some important points when approaching your friends,
family, neighbors and any other prospects:

These
products are high-quality, durable plastic and are dishwasher safe.They feature officially licensed
branding from the NFL, MLB, collegiate teams and the US Branches of
Military.

Emphasize
the purpose of your fundraiser!Let
people know that the money raised will be going towards the purchase of
new equipment for our players.

All
checks should be made payable to: AFPBA or Ahwatukee Foothills PONY Baseball Association.
Checks and cash should be collected when customers place their order.A collection envelope has been included
for your convenience.

Sample
cups have been proven to significantly increase sales.Please use the enclosed sample cup when
talking to customers.

Order
forms should be returned to the Akimel concession stand between 6:45 p.m.
- 8:00 p.m. on November
1, 2013.

Orders
will arrive prior to the Thanksgiving holiday.

BONUS:Top
Seller wins an iPod Shuffle.2nd
place seller wins a cup for each team in the MLB.3rd top seller wins a $20
gift card to Game World.

Ahwatukee Foothills PONY Baseball will be hosting a hitting and
fielding clinics on Sunday, September 22 for players ages 4-8 and September
29 for ages 9-12. The clinic will be held at the Akimel baseball fields
from 9:00 am - 12:00 pm.

Desert Vista Baseball Coach, Stan Luketich, will lead
the clinic, along with many of his coaches and players. Coach Luketich
has two state championships, is in the Arizona High School Coaching Hall of
Fame and most recently was awarded the Ethics in Coaching Award from the
American Baseball Coaches Association.

These coaches and players will provide
personalized instruction and run your players through many stations and drills
to improve your player's skills with a fun "scrimmage" at the end.
Please be sure to provide hydration and a snack for the players.
Walk-up registration opens at 8:15 am and costs $20 (cash or check only)
for the three-hour session, which will start promptly at 9:00 am.